Hi Everyone,
I sincerely would like to thank everyone for all the considerable amount of feedback posted so far regarding my review; and this includes thanks for both positive and negative feedback, as I value both as much as each other.
I have in my report been brutally honest, and I very much appreciate that everyone’s efforts to do the same. I can’t stand brown-noses and don’t want anyone blowing smoke up my arse; although I think it’s clear that there is very little chance of that happening here!
Let’s cut through all the BS for a moment, and examine the RELEVANT facts:
1) My review report is solely MY OPINION. I state this fact clearly within the document itself; and I have repeated this fact time and time again within this thread; and I am repeating it again here.
2) It is obvious that certain individuals, who are spearheading attacks on me, have their own agendas; e.g. unlike me, they themselves are in fact affiliated with a brand or brands of A/V equipment; or they happen to be the owner of one of the audio systems that I have stated
in my opinion has poor audio performance in some regard, etc.. Hence, of course they are going to disagree with my opinion. It is only right, however, that they are honest and up front about their own agendas.
3) You do not have to be a SOUND ENGINEER to REVIEW A/V equipment. To revert to someone’s excellent analogy, a FOOD CRITIC does not need to be qualified as a PROFESSIONAL CHEF in order to REVIEW food; the qualification required is sufficient experience working within the industry. To put forward another analogy you don't need to know how to edit films to be able to offer an opinion that a film is badly edited... I myself am NOT a SOUND ENGINEER and have never pretended for an instant that I am; however, I do not consider myself to be merely an A/V ENTHUSIAST either. My A/V background comprises over 20 years’ A/V experience, stemming from a childhood interest (which is not included in those 20 years) through to date wherein I own and run an A/V company whose sole function is to service all the A/V needs of the property development company that I also own and run; this includes personally designing and overseeing the construction of high-end cinemas. Does this mean I am the oracle of all things A/V related; no it doesn't and I have never claimed it does; but it doesn't mean that I am an ignorant "AV Enthusiast" either
Despite what some of you clearly believe, I have in fact taken on board and considered everyone’s comments, (which I have to say hasn’t been easy given the fact the vast majority comprise wholly unwarranted petty jibs and childish attacks upon my personage, as well as unfairly prejudging my character and falsely accusing me of all sorts) and I have amended and re-posted my report accordingly:
1) I have changed the title to: “COMPARISON, UNBIASED REVIEW & RANKING OF 12 HIGH-END HOME CINEMA AUDIO BRANDS”
I removed the word DIRECT because, whilst I carried out my auditions in such a way that kept factors that might influence audio performance to a minimum as much as was feasibly possible given the circumstances (something which I believe warrants some credit) I concede this is not the ideal, and hence I have removed the word DIRECT, since whilst I am indeed making a comparison, I can see both sides of the argument with regards to how DIRECT it is.
2) I have made the following additions to re-iterate the point that the report is solely MY OPINION and should be taken as such (even though I do already state this fact clearly within the report):
a. I have added the following notice on the front cover: “PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS MY OPINION AND ONLY MY OPINION. ACCORDINGLY IT SHOULD ONLY BE TAKEN AS SUCH AND YOU ARE PERFECTLY ENTITLED TO EITHER AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH IT”.
b. I have changed the section title on the final page from “AT A GLANCE” to: “MY OPINION – AT A GLANCE”.
3) I have added more detail on my personal background and my experience to date with regards to A/V. I didn’t do so originally because I don’t especially like to blow my own trumpet and didn’t want to bore everyone with my life history; however, with hindsight this was clearly an oversight, since I do agree it should be made clearer precisely what is my A/V experience such that everyone reading it is crystal clear in that regard when reading it; and also, hopefully this will quash any such implications that I have been seeking to pass myself off as something I am not, which if you read through this entire thread has never in fact been the case, as I have always been up front and honest about everything, including my identity, personal history and A/V background. However, I do agree that it was an oversight not including this pertinent information; this was nothing more than an oversight, which I have now corrected.
4) I have reworded the disclaimer to remove the word PROFESSIONAL, since this has clearly irritated some people, and is in fact redundant, because this is not a LAB TESTING REPORT; it is A REVIEW.
Edited by madboynutter - 7/10/12 at 8:05am
